merse
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Post by merse on Jun 29, 2008 15:42:07 GMT
There is over 3000 players in the South Devon League and I wonder how many of them are TUFC fans, or how many have ever been to Plainmoor. So that is more local players that TUFC gets through their gates. I know some fans have posted that the SDL should move its kick off times so as not to clash with TUFC, but that will never happen. I do wonder how many more local players went up to Plainmoor when we had Saturday Night football here in Torquay, ruined only by the game against wolves. Maybe some body will be able to check our gates at that time and see if there were higher.  I've never really understood why we make such an issue of attracting active players along to Plainmoor , I really don't. There isn't a prevailing culture of large scale watching amongst the regular players of the SDL and to be honest, any healthy young man who prefers watching to playing wants his head examining. The Saturday evening culture was an interesting and pretty successful inovation in it's time, but that time has been and gone. Way back over forty years ago when it was introduced, there was precious little else to rival the Plainmoor evening game. there were only three TV channels available, the local bus company STILL put providing a service above making a profit, and United did in fact have a highly successfull and attractive team at the time. By the time it ended, (which was during my last months at the club) recession had kicked in, the bus links were being withdrawn and (rather like I predict for this season) people were having to take along hard look at what disposable income (if any) they still had. A commercial decision was taken that the forfeit of revenue from the Football Pools Betting pay out, the extra costs of lighting and expenses paid out to match officials etc were no longer worth setting against the rapidly receding revenue through the gate; and thus they were discontinued. I thought the Sunday tea time match with Grays was the most interesting and possibly an indication of what could be achieved by moving away from the traditional Saturday afternoon slot nowadays, and perhaps the German model of specific leagues having specific slots over the weekend would be worth a look. Over there they are in place solely to accommodate TV coverage and thus Friday night is Liga 2, Saturday afternoon Liga 3 and Sunday tea time Liga 1. When taking account of the inevitable negativity that comes with attempting innovation, I believe short shrift should be given to the needs of travelling fans in the BSP given the pathetic average of away support one sees. Although that would hit our club the hardest when playing away, I truly think the BSP as a whole should be looking at a "BSP Weekend Slot" during which Setanta could be accommodated and I don't mean Thursday! No, for my money it should be either Friday evening or Sunday teatime; with Saturday lunchtime at a poor third. The FA should respect this and forbid other leagues playing on designated days of their fellow divisions. But I feel the idea has to be addressed by the BSP as a whole, and let's be honest; there are plenty of clubs with far more to worry about when it comes to attendances than Torquay United! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 29, 2008 16:14:53 GMT
There is over 3000 players in the South Devon League and I wonder how many of them are TUFC fans, or how many have ever been to Plainmoor. So that is more local players that TUFC gets through their gates. I know some fans have posted that the SDL should move its kick off times so as not to clash with TUFC, but that will never happen. I do wonder how many more local players went up to Plainmoor when we had Saturday Night football here in Torquay, ruined only by the game against wolves. Maybe some body will be able to check our gates at that time and see if there were higher. I've never really understood why we make such an issue of attracting active players along to Plainmoor , I really don't. There isn't a prevailing culture of of large scale watching amongst the regular players of the SDL and to be honest, any healthy young man who prefers watching to playing wants his head examining. ! Well Merse you really are looking no further than the end of your nose  D.Batten was very keen to try and reform the links with the SDL. No its not going to swell the gates on a Saturday afternoon, no it may not help to get any SDL players there on a Tuesday night, but the club needs to generate funds in other ways. Having SDL finals etc at the club, could well help to get teams in the SDL to use the 200 club etc for their end of season events, to get the SDL to even promote the club facilities and that was one of the many things D.Batten was working to wards. To think, you called ME small minded ;D ;D ;D |
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merse
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Post by merse on Jun 29, 2008 16:34:50 GMT
[quote author=admin board=general thread=166 post=1367 time=1214756093 Well Merse you really are looking no further than the end of your nose [/quote] Not "small minded" Dave, blinkered vision I'd say. I was referring in my post soleley to the idea that there could be significant increase at the gate. I think it is an excellent idea to "sell" the Plainmoor facilities to the local football populace at large, and I look forward to the day when the club has a dedicated private training centre that could maybe be developed near a large population area (Yalberton?) where not only training facilities could be created, but a small floodlit arena and a social club. The training facilities could be rented out to SDL clubs in the evenings, the arena - ditto whereby outstanding regular games and local cup finals could be played as well as TU youth games, and the social club could be a normal licensed premises bringing in a regular revenue stream. The more people who used the facilities, the more people would get into the "United Habit" |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 29, 2008 16:44:49 GMT
Thank you Merse for moving me from small minded now up to only blinkered.
As was stated in the thread, games for the SDL will not be moved from their Saturday afternoon kick-off times, so it has never been about getting SDL players in through the gate.
Any way the club can reach out to local footballers and the community as a whole will in time pay its rewards.
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merse
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Post by merse on Jun 29, 2008 17:08:15 GMT
Thank you Merse for moving me from small minded now up to only blinkered. Gawd blimey your as paranoid as Amy Wino last night, fretting that one of her tits was coming out and her bee hive would fall over her eyes  I was referring to my blinkered view of your post. Anyway, I'm enjoying Neil Diamond's tight band from Glasto and those lovely backing singers of a "certain age".............you know the type I used to offer to help across the road, but now try to charm the knickers off!!!!! This ole house is still rockin' from a weekend of a bevy Belgian Beauties * walking around the flat half naked............there's no lock on the bathroom door and I'm certain I'll have to tip 'em upside down before they go home to empty all the alcohol out! ;D * Yupp - the cou sin's in law are in town again! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 29, 2008 17:14:57 GMT
Thank you Merse, I was in fact referring to you view on me, you know when old Roberts had you fooled ;D ;D and I had thought now only being blinkered I had gone up in your estimations.
Good to get back to our old ways Merse ;D ;D
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merse
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Post by merse on Jun 29, 2008 17:28:09 GMT
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 29, 2008 21:09:15 GMT
 Dave R and Merse, just like the good old days ;D ;D ;D |
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merse
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Post by merse on Jun 30, 2008 2:21:22 GMT
Dave R and Merse, just like the good old days ;D ;D ;D Help...............we need a moderator (not!) ;D |
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Post by jond on Jun 30, 2008 6:16:48 GMT
You mean there is such a thing as a "Belgian Beauty"??
Well I never
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merse
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Post by merse on Jun 30, 2008 17:23:48 GMT
You mean there is such a thing as a "Belgian Beauty"?? Well I never Yupp, and they're not all called Stella! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jul 1, 2008 15:36:04 GMT
Sean, any thoughts or views on Busters post yet? he has made some very good points, I hope you will let us know the views of the club soon.
Thanks Dave R
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Post by sean01 on Jul 1, 2008 18:12:44 GMT
I have today passed onto the club all details that have been submitted on this site, I know that Sally Eagling will be contacting TUAFC in the next 24 hours or even sooner. I will be making some interesting proposals to the board next week concerning pre match activities. Keep the ideas coming they are very interesting.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jul 1, 2008 18:19:28 GMT
Thanks for that Sean. hope you will let us know any thing that may be of interest, sure there will be plenty of more idea's coming in.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Jul 1, 2008 22:21:26 GMT
I've never really understood why we make such an issue of attracting active players along to Plainmoor , I really don't. There isn't a prevailing culture of large scale watching among the regular players of the SDL and to be honest, any healthy young man who prefers watching to playing wants his head examining. I don't think it's case of trying to get people to give up playing to watch instead! One thing I've noticed is how midweek evening crowds are lower than Saturday afternoons. You get a lot of kids, a lot of elderly people and a lot of exiles traveling from a distance on a Saturday. Weekday evenings are more difficult for them. It must be worth trying to balance that up a bit by getting people in who can't come on a Saturday - people engaged in football or playing other sports on a Saturday is the obvious target group. In addition, a lot of SDL teams have several blank Saturdays (clashes with Cup ties, games called off because of the weather, odd number of teams in some divisions). If you really targeted SDL clubs, you might see a response. For example, sell a club a group ticket for £100 that lets in up to 20 people. If they get ten to come along it costs a tenner each, if they get a full entourage of 20 it only costs a fiver each. You might forge a habit, that evening games are seen as a club social night out, and a blank Saturday might be seen as a chance to go to Plainmoor instead. And of course, if the 17 year old starting off in the SDL gets dragged up to TUFC every now and again, it must improve the chances of him becoming a full-time fan 20 years later when he packs in playing. Of course, you won't add thousands to the gate. You won't radically change the size of the club relative to its rivals. But you might make a difference that matters - that's got to be worth a try! |
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I've never really understood why we make such an issue of attracting active players along to Plainmoor , I really don't. There isn't a prevailing culture of large scale watching amongst the regular players of the SDL and to be honest, any healthy young man who prefers watching to playing wants his head examining.
